The first day I came in to BCTI all there were was promises. Promises of a better life, and a better future. I was led to believe that companies like Microsoft and Nintendo would hire me if I had attended the full program, they lied.
I went through all of phase I and phase II and I can barely qualify for an eight dollar an hour job. This is NOT what they promised.
When I first came to the school after my mother heard from an Everett mall advertisement, I was immediately greeted and shown the tour in August. After the tour they showed me the 'curriculum' and sent me straight to financial aid. The lady there (I don't remember her name, they fired and hired often at that school) immediately tried to convince me that there were no better schools out there and that this was my last chance.
I was hesitant to sign on but they just kept pushing, making me feel like if I didn't jump into class right that day I would never get anywhere in life. So I signed on.
I should have realized what they were doing when I entered the classroom on the first day. We were learning what a period was. I felt a little offended by this, because this is something I learned in elementary school. We're we adults or little girls and boys back in 3rd grade? I thought about quitting, but couldn't make a decision right on that day.
The next day I came in, I remembered that they told me that if I quit after the first day I would owe the money anyway. They lied here too, I actually could quit anytime and if I had right here I would have owed nothing, but no I didn't want to be a quitter cause I didn't want to pay them for nothing.
The progress periods went on and soon it came time for my graduation. I was so happy that I didn't listen to my younger brother telling me that he was learning the same things in his school. I became upset and shrugged him away, because I didn't want to believe that that could be true. That was my second biggest mistake, if I had only listened to him I'd only be 10,000 dollars in debt, not over 20,000!
I signed on for Phase II because I fell for their promises of a 'great career'. My younger brother then went to the school for two days, but he dropped out, because he realized that he could learn the same thing in his highschool. He returned to highschool debt free, but I graduated phase II on March 7th 20,000 dollars in debt and with a certificate that might as well have been firewood.
They also promised to get to use their facilities for 1 full year to try to get a job. Their version of 'helping' is to slap some job offers on the desk and wish you good luck. This is not help. This is throwing someone in a boat in the water without a paddle. Then they shut the school down.
I found out and was devastated at the information I learned. I learned that this school was only using us, using us to get money. As long as we were enrolled the school got payment, no wonder they wanted us to stay. I then went to the "Center for Career Alternatives" and found out my true horror.
I was told by the school that I qualified for an Administrative Assistant job. I found out I qualified for a job at Walmart. The worst part was when the person in charge there told me that if I had just applied to a community college instead, I would have gotten a bachelors in computer science instead of a worthless certificate.
This school should pay for all that it did to myself and hundreds of others. Morally I don't believe I should have to pay my loans, but legally I really don't know. I'm still trying to contact lawyers only to find out that bankruptcy is out of the question. I'm only 21 years old and already my future appears shattered.
I lost two years of my life doing what I could have done in high school. It's like I paid 20,000 dollars for a second high school education. This is unfair and unjust, not to myself but to my family and all the people that supported me through those hard times at that school.
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